The Individual Manuscripts Collection, also known as Omnium Gatherum (OG), is one of our 650 manuscript collections. U.S. slavery is documented in this collection which comprises more than 1,000 items, including letters, diaries, slave documents, broadsides, maps, literary manuscripts, artifacts, speeches and more, on topics so varied, and sometimes so unusual and rare that it has been one of our best-kept secrets. OG is now available on our searchable in-house database, the primary purpose of which is to make single item materials accessible to researchers.

Our collection of Clothing Account Books of the U.S. Colored Troops in the Civil War comprises 429 ledger books, recording the monetary value of clothing and gear allotted to each enlistee. Other information includes name of the enlistee, and place and date of muster. These ledgers are an important source of the history of the African American contribution to the War effort, and have become a good source of genealogical data, among other things. Regiments include the 55th and 54th Massachusetts Volunteers, made famous by the movie “Glory.”

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